Dear Mrs Reindeer

Today my heart is still lying around me in pieces. Generally I cope well with stressful and emotional situations, being an overly rational person, but, unfortunately, death does not fall into this category.

On Sunday afternoon my dearest dad phoned. I knew something was up the moment he said hi. His voice was strained and his generally upbeat mood was noticeably dark. He’s usually the strong one, so he had to deliver the news, Mrs Reindeer died about an hour ago in the hospital……I hardly heard the rest.

Apparently you had been in hospital for two weeks, slowly fading away to the full 25kg you weighed at the time of your death. The parentals didn’t want to tell me before as they knew the result was inevitable and I’d only have been distracted and unable to do anything about it. Ironic isn’t it, how the only thing we never agreed on was the one thing that finally caused your sad and painful death.

You have been a part of my life for 18 years. You were always there to motivate me along the way. You saw potential and helped me to develop it, giving me a gentle push in the general direction of success and encouraging me to fly. During your lifetime you’ve touched so many young people’s lives, showing them what they can accomplish if they only believe and taking little credit for the end result.

You were always quick to laugh, quick to love and quick to share a tear. The influence of your work can be seen everywhere in our little home town, and I pray that this is how you will be remembered. Proud, hard working, loving, caring, strong and full of life, not as a suffering ghost of yourself in hospital.

In a way I’m grateful I didn’t have the opportunity to visit you in hospital. My memory of you will forever be of the wonderful and strong woman I discovered during the years I was fortunate enough to share with you.

I will pray for your husband, daughter and grandchildren. That they may experience peace and comfort in what will surely be a very trying time. Rest in peace Mrs Reindeer, the world will certainly be a whole lot poorer without you.